


diamond hearts

by mad_marquise



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Anxiety, Depression, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Horror, Love Triangles, M/M, Parenthood, Prompt Fic, Romance, Smoking, Tumblr Prompt, Vampires, all the things, showering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-03-20 17:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13722369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mad_marquise/pseuds/mad_marquise
Summary: they're not flawless, and that's more than ok.





	1. thor and the aching envy

**Author's Note:**

> a collection of the tumblr prompt fics i've been writing lately. title comes from lady gaga's song 'diamond heart', which is awesome and you should definitely listen to it (and the rest of the joanne album).
> 
> first prompt was: "thunderscience + jealousy *bonus of thor being jealous of nat/bruce reuniting*"

Thor has grown. He is long past his days of perpetual entitlement. He is an empathetic creature now, he appreciates how complex living beings are, knows that he has no claim over anyone just by virtue of existing. He is patient. He understands.

It…shouldn’t hurt him so, to see Bruce reuniting with Natasha.

The Avengers as a collective have a relationship like no other – bleeding out on one another on the battlefield for years made that an inevitability. They all treat one another with gentle hands. Despite their time apart, and their time brutally in-fighting, this core truth has still persisted, even upon the Asgardian refugees’ recent arrival on Earth.

But Nat and Bruce have a  _history_. Thor had thought it ancient news – Ragnarok had pushed Bruce and him closer together than he had ever imagined. Incredibly complementary, both of them treasuring the foreign and the familiar in one another. Thor’s old recurring dreams of Jane’s coronation have been replaced with vivid images of Bruce as his beautiful King Consort, helping to build a new community alongside Asgard’s people. And yet…Thor notices something in Nat’s eyes, an affection running far deeper than the kind that brothers in arms share. Flickers of it shine in Bruce’s eyes with each passing day.

Natasha has strength and heart in ways that few can comprehend. She’s human, but exudes the air of someone far beyond human. And she knows this Earth well. She had been so good for Bruce.

She can  _still_ be good for him.

It tears something raw in Thor to think that Bruce could easily find home back in Natasha’s arms.

Thor has grown. He loves Bruce Banner more than anything, and it is because of this that he will not stop Bruce should the day arise that Bruce wants to leave.


	2. the awful anxiety of bruce banner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "thunderscience + thor trying to calm down bruce *bonus with kisses*"

Anxiety has its terrible grip on Bruce. **  
**

It’s rendered him helpless, confining him to huddle in a ball at the corner of his bed. All Bruce has known today is the texture of the fleece duvet under his bare feet, the ache of his back from being hunched over, the dig of his nails into his arms, and the burning, suffocating feeling in his chest.

Bruce vaguely registers that he’s trembling.

No, he’s shaking like a damn leaf.

His brain is all scrambled. He thinks,  _Now wouldn’t it be something, to die like **this,** out of everything I’ve been through._

He’s so far gone that he doesn’t notice Thor quietly enter the room until he’s sat beside him on the bed.

Thor wraps his arm around Bruce, tucks his head under Thor’s chin, and just breathes, in, out, slow and steady, until Bruce catches on and focuses on following his rhythm.

“‘M sorry,” Bruce mumbles when he’s able to speak. “Forgot you were coming today. I’m such a mess.” He carefully unclenches his arms and legs and stretches, wincing at the pain.

Thor hums. “Don’t be sorry,” he chides gently. He rubs Bruce’s back in soothing circles with one hand as he tilts his chin up with the other. His eyes, so  _blue_ and comforting as ever, stay open as he kisses the corner of Bruce’s mouth.

Bruce melts into it. He grasps the back of Thor’s head, pulls him in properly, and kisses him and kisses him until he’s grounded.


	3. thor, bruce, and the windchime lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "Thor/Bruce; a quiet moment together"

The windchimes were Bruce’s idea. Something he’d always wanted in his home since he was a child, but had never gotten around to it – thus, they were the first thing purchased upon moving into his and Thor’s apartment. **  
**

Today, during an unusually quiet afternoon in their New York burrough, the investment is paying off.

Bruce and Thor are curled up together on the tiny loveseat on their terrace. The sun bathes them in pleasant warmth. The traffic is a dull roar in the street below. And the chimes, silver and gleaming from their hook on the the metal awning, clang in the breeze like miniature bells.

The sound is haunting. Both men start to drift off. In his mind’s eye, Thor sees brave warriors being carried off in ships to Valhalla, guided by the light of lanterns and the windy bell-chimes.

Sleepily, Thor tells Bruce as much, describing his vision in detail.

Bruce nods, getting the picture clearly behind closed lids. “So, peace,” he says. “You feel peace. That’s why I like ‘em. When I was a kid…” he reaches out for Thor’s hand, finds it, and laces their fingers together. “When I was a kid, and things were rough with my parents, I’d run off to my friend’s house on the really bad days. Her family had chimes over their porch. And they just…cleared my head. Something so simple.” He smiles at the memory.

“Midgardians,” Thor says softly, fondly. “You make such magic out of the smallest things.”


	4. jekyll and hyde inside bruce's mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "pre/early thruce and bruce dealing with being unhulked for the first time in ages on sakaar?"

Mere hours after de-Hulking on Sakaar, The Other Guy claws at the edges of his brain, forceful, berating him –  _puny Banner, puny Banner, you get us killed if not for me –_ **  
**

And the sensible, upright Doctor Banner hounds him incessantly, utterly disdainful – _really, now, you let yourself go for two years? You should have better control than this –_

But Bruce?

Is only human,

Can only be stretched so far,

And just wants to be himself.

So he doesn’t stick to either side. He lets the remainder of his addled mind take him where it may.

Sakaar is loud and discombobulating and frightening, seemingly designed to set Bruce off – but no, that’s not him, he’s not that monster, he won’t let it consume him again so soon. He focuses on the tough rebel girl ( _“Valkyrie,”_  he remembers), and Thor, both of whom stand constant by him (which he appreciates, so much).

 _But oh, Thor,_ Bruce thinks, during a rare moment alone. An imposing guy the first time Bruce had met him ages ago, but only seeming to grow increasingly badass and beautiful with each fight (and hair and wardrobe change, wow, Bruce still can’t get over how fantastic Thor’s cropped cut looks).

Wait, hold on.

Beautiful?

 _Puny Banner slow,_  the Hulk says, which is really fucking rich coming from him.

“Am I?” Bruce says wryly. “How?”

_Thor always pretty. Beautiful._

“Yeah, maybe,” Bruce concedes. He’s always understood that on an aesthetic level – Thor isn’t exactly hard on the eyes by any stretch of the imagination. “But since when does that like…matter to me?”

_Banner not in touch with feelings._

Bruce bursts out laughing. If whatever alien-of-the-week threat is looming over him lately doesn’t kill him, the irony of this conversation certainly will. “Yeah, okay, Big Guy. I’ll give this some further consideration.”

 _You’re really paying heed to what he says?_ Prim and Proper Doctor Banner says scathingly.  _I know you’re a little kooky right now, man, but this is still rather stupid._

Bruce shrugs. “It’s not as though I have anything to lose at the moment,” he replies. “And we’ve got those 7 PhDs to help me figure this out.”


	5. thor, bruce, and a painful truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "when they first realize they have feelings for one another?"

“Tell me how you’re feeling,” Thor breathes, having just finally cut the ages-long tension between him and Bruce by giving him what Bruce thinks was the best kiss of his life. Their fingers are laced together. Thor’s got like, an earnest puppy dog expression, sweet and  _adorable_. Bruce is sure they probably look like a scene out of an old-time romance film, and that kind of sucks knowing the impending reality of the situation.

“I’m…feeling kind of nauseous, actually.”

Thor balks at him (but tries his hardest to downplay it, fucking bless him) and Bruce’s eyes go wide and he backtracks. “No, no, no, not at you, shit,” he says, grimacing. “Nauseous as in ‘scared out of my mind’.”

“Ah.” Thor sounds relieved. “New relationships can be overwhelming, I understand–”

“–I don’t think you do, Thor,” Bruce replies, laughing mirthlessly.

“Enlighten me.”

So Bruce tells him. Every last hidden truth spills from his lips – his unluckiness in relationships, his lesser-known instabilities and imperfections, and how painful it all feels in the wake of realizing his feelings for Thor.

“You don’t get it,” Bruce finishes, a lump forming in this throat. “It’s frustrating, knowing that I only have a matter of time before I screw this up. You’re so close, yet so far, it’s fucking unfair…” He feels his eyes grow wet. “Damn. I really didn’t mean to put a damper on things, but this is how I feel.”

Now Thor looks like a sad puppy dog. Fuck.

“God, I’m sorry,” Bruce says miserably.

“No,” Thor says, “ _I’m_  sorry.”

Huh?

“What do you have to be sorry about?”

“I’m sorry you’re under the impression that I would leave you so easily,” Thor says seriously. “I’m not denying that you have insecurities, but…I’ve been around a long time, Bruce. I’ve had more time than you can even imagine to better myself, and I’m  _still_ not perfect. There’s no way that I would expect you to be.”

He lifts Bruce’s hands to his lips and kisses each fingertip.

Bruce thinks, dazedly,  _it feels like velvet._

“I feel…very fortunate to have met you,” Thor says, firm. “I’m eager for us to help each other grow. Let’s not quit before we’ve even started.”


	6. bruce, thor, and ganja love galore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "thunderscience + valentine's day ;)"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for oui'd smoking

Bruce is so, so high right now.

Thor’s floor in the tower is flooded with the earthy, floral scent of Bruce’s pot. It’s medical grade (from the private store he has, it was prescribed to him to help with his PTSD as needed, but he figured dipping into it for a special occasion – their first Valentine’s evening together – wouldn’t hurt), and two-thirds of the way through a big blunt, it’s hitting even Thor hard. Thor and Bruce are sat on the carpet, backs leaned against the couch. One of their phones is hooked up to the stereo (or was it a cd? They don’t remember), leaving them awash in 80s ballads, and for ages they’ve just basked in feeling, feeling, feeling.

Bruce takes another hit as a Peter Cetera song comes on. Bruce isn’t even much of a fan, but he’s finding he’s rather curious to know Thor’s opinion on it, anyways. He looks over at him, and sees Thor resting his head back against the arm of the couch, eyes closed and lightly swaying to the beat. Bruce starts giggling.

“…What are you laughing so loudly for?” Thor asks, eyes still closed.

“Oh.” Bruce covers his mouth, trying and failing to stifle it a bit. “Did think it was being, I mean. I didn’t. Think I was being all that loud,” he manages, laughing even harder.

Thor rouses and opens one eye to peek at him. “Yes. You’re quite loud,” Thor replies, looking amused.

“You’re quite pretty,” Bruce blurts.

“Hmm?”

Before either of them know it, Bruce has stubbed out the joint and clambered into Thor’s lap.

“As I understand it,” Thor says, looking at Bruce properly, “this isn’t an aphrodisiac?”

“No,  _it’s_  not,” Bruce agrees, snaking his arms around Thor’s neck. “ _You_ , on the other hand…”

Thor laughs, settles his hands on Bruce’s waist. “Bruce. Dear heart. Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Yeah.” Bruce touches his forehead to Thor’s. He grins. “That…I’m glad you’re my Valentine.”

Thor kisses him.

And then, he ends up doing a lot more…


	7. thor, bruce, and shower soul-searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "sharing a shower"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for some suicidal ideation

There are days that Bruce doesn’t have the strength to even stand in the shower.

Honestly, he finds a lot of facets of existing, existence, being a person, all so very  _hard_. Back in the early aftermath of the accident, a long, horrible stretch of time in which he felt as though the last dregs of his humanity were slipping through his fingers – he spent countless times sat slumped back in the bottom of the tub, the spray hot and harsh on his face, hoping that he might drown.

Against all odds, new opportunities arose for him in the coming years, each one giving him a reason to  _try_. His work in India, which led him to the Avengers Initiative. Which, in turn, led him to Thor.

In Thor, Bruce has seen a legend, larger than life, and also a man trying to harness the power he’s been given. Through Thor, Bruce has found himself coming to appreciate the Hulk as an asset, a unique gift. Fighting alongside him for years has settled that idea in stone for him.  _You’ve got to play the hand you’ve been dealt,_  Bruce thinks, often. Helping the Asgardians face Ragnarok is the culmination.

Yet, after the fact, he finds himself bone-tired once he phases back into human form. On their stolen Sakaarian ship, Bruce trembles as he steps into the shower in his quarters, feeling the ache in his body, in his mind. The old thoughts questioning his worth begin to flood his head as he wobbles on the tile, wondering vaguely if he could stopper the drain and lay and let himself get lost in an actual flood.

He doesn’t fight back when he feels arms snaking around him. Let them drag him away…

“– Banner –  _Banner_ –”

It’s Thor. Of course it’s Thor. Bruce mumbles something, and it must come across as troublesome because Thor sounds worried, and he starts hefting Bruce upright.

Bruce leans heavily against Thor’s chest. The wet metal feels weird against his cheek, but not entirely unpleasant.

Thor is in the shower with him.

Hasn’t even taken off his armor. How fucking modest of him.

Bruce can’t…just…he’s always known Thor to be purehearted, but to bother helping him in this way….

“What a sweetheart,” Bruce murmurs, awed. “Didn’t even have to do all this when you’ve got…so much to worry about.”

That thought must have been coherent, because Thor responds directly:

“I worry about  _you_ ,” Thor rumbles, tightening his arms around Bruce. “I won’t see you fall, Banner.”


	8. the late night musings of bruce banner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "thorbruce + sharing a bed/falling asleep"

Bruce and Thor lay curled up into one another in Thor’s vast bed. Thor has long since fallen asleep. Bruce, still awake, cradles Thor’s head against his chest, has a leg slung over Thor’s waist, and revels in how lucky he is.

Bruce knows Thor has always had allies - his parents and the Warriors Three, before their untimely deaths. Loki, when he’s of a mind to be helpful. But Thor has never really had a  _protector_.

Not until Bruce. Thor has told him as much.

Bruce combs his fingers through Thor’s hair, feels Thor’s steady breaths against his skin, right over his heart. It’s still… _something_ , to try to wrap his head around the idea of the role he plays in Thor’s life. Bruce - in his other skin, as the Hulk - has proven his physical strength a million times over by matching and even besting Thor in combat many times, something that very few have done. And, emotionally, Bruce reins Thor in when need be, saves the King of Asgard from himself when things take a darker turn.

Helping others is not something that Bruce has ever taken lightly, but…he feels as though his worth has never properly registered until this current chapter in his existence. The fact that Thor considers him a shield, and just as invaluable as Bruce feels Thor is? It’s - it’s -

_We fit,_ Bruce thinks with finality, pressing even closer to his companion as he himself begins to drift off.  _Slotting together like puzzle pieces._

 

 


	9. thor, bruce, and their budding parenthood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "new parents Thor and Bruce fluff"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst always has to creep its way into my fluff, alas. so a bit of a warning for some dark/depressive thoughts from one of the characters

The adjustment period after they’ve officially completed the adoption process is rough. Within a few days after coming home with her new fathers, the spark in Jodie’s eye has dulled completely. She is totally withdrawn, and doesn’t open up about what’s going on until Bruce and Thor have got her snuggled between the two of them on the sofa one evening.

In few words, she quietly tells them her fears of this – their family unit – being broken up by some force.

“Either you’ll hate me, or I’ll die or get snatched up,” she mumbles. “And I’d rather not get kidnapped.”

Her sudden silence in that moment speaks volumes.

Neither Bruce not Thor have to exchange words in order to know how the other is feeling:

_This poor, poor child._

“Jodie,” Thor begins carefully, “You remember that I’m not of this Earth?”

She nods.

“Kinda hard to forget, when you always sound like an alien.”

It startles a laugh out of Thor. He glances at Bruce, finds that he’s grinning, too. Least she hasn’t lost her sense of humor!

“Good!” Thor says. “On Asgard we learn from a young age that there are certain things that are constants. Namely, love. Life. The stars.”

“Now, I must let you in on a secret: Like all good things in this universe, you were born from a star.” Thor says this firmly, takes Jodie’s hand, heart jumping when she grips it back. “Which means that your light will burn on for ages to come. And even longer than that, because we love you.”

“I like those words,” Jodie says quietly. “But how do you know?” Jodie counters. “You just…found me.”

“Trust me on this,” Bruce says, grasping her other hand, and tucking her head under his chin. “Practically everything in this universe needs love to grow. I didn’t realize how true that was until I started inventing, and saw that my ideas thrived when I put my heart into them. I didn’t really grasp how it pertained to _me_  until I joined the Avengers, and felt how much the love of my teammates pushed me to become a better hero. To get more in touch with the Other Guy. And…..to not be so afraid of the idea that I deserved to have someone really close to me again, like how Betty was, once upon a time.”

“Honey,” Bruce murmurs, “You’re just another one of the many wonderful things keeping me going. Keeping both of us going. So I know for a fact that you’re gonna shine as long as you’re in our lives.”

Jodie goes quiet again, but grips both her fathers’ hands very hard. Thor leans down to look her in the eye.

Her face is flooded with tears, and she’s sporting the first genuine smile she’s had in days.


	10. bruce banner and the sinful secret of santa carla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one was not based on a specific prompt i was given, but was prompted by rewatching the lost boys a ton last week. it was written in a very stream-of-consciousness way so it's kinda rough but! i like it overall and would like to expand it into a full au eventually!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for some nsfw stuff, blood/violence, and a near suicide attempt because it's vampires and this shit crazy, y'all

It’s a complete, terrible coincidence that the first person Bruce hooks up with post-Betty is… also named Betty.

She’s wickedly pretty, sleek hair and dark makeup and dressed like she’s stepped out of a Depeche Mode video – but she isn’t even that nice. All evening over drinks, her humor is a little too cutting, just this side of vicious. When they fall into bed together, her nails cut him even deeper as they fuck, and fuck, and fuck …

Painful pleasure at its fullest, Bruce barely pays any mind when he feels not-Betty’s teeth dig into the side of his neck.

This isn’t real. This isn’t real. He did not link up with a fucking cannibal. Bruce is so far back in his mind, he’s limp, he’s numb, but his neck aches, his hearing is very very muffled…

Not-Betty looms over him with a sharp, bloody smile, and then whispers against the shell of his ear, “A parting gift for you, since you were so sweet.” She slashes her wrist open with her teeth, and presses the gaping wound right up against Bruce’s mouth.

And as the taste of copper floods him, pours down his throat, Bruce thinks, dazed, A vampire, then.

The transformation doesn’t last as long as the movies had led him him to believe. Within the hour, Bruce Banner is dead and reborn.

Not-Betty watches idly from the corner of the bed, and laughs when he weakly tries to swipe at her.

“Don’t worry,” she says, nothing but cruel mirth in her expression as she pulls her clothes on. “You’ll get your strength back soon. And then you’ll get it back tenfold.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” Bruce says furiously. “You need to tell me how to fix this.”

She looks at him pityingly.

“There’s no cure, hon,” are her last words as she turns to leave the room with a toss of the head, a flourish of the hand. “You spend all of forever looking, closest you’ll find to one is a big, fat bullet to the chest.”

So the age-old story goes. For nearly a week, Bruce is yet another fledgling who won’t feed, not even on stray animals. But the thick, heavy heat of Santa Carla gets to him, and with it carries the sweet scent of the blood of every last person he crosses paths with in the shadows.

And, well.

It was only a matter of time.

Another passing stranger finds Bruce crouched over in an alleyway. There’s a fresh corpse with its throat torn to shreds on the ground in front of him. There’s red, red all over it, all over Bruce’s hands and clothes.

Bruce is shaking, pressing the barrel of a gun into his bloody, bloody mouth.

In a split second the stranger’s got the gun out of his mouth and Bruce’s arms pinned to his sides, so fucking fast it’s like some kind of time warp or illusion.

“What’s wrong with you?” Bruce yells, spits out venomously, feeling the blood still all in his mouth and feeling a hot rush of shame and revulsion at how good it still tastes. “I’m a killer!”

“So am I,” the stranger replies. And something in his voice makes Bruce take pause, properly look at him.

He’s tall, bearded and blond with a strikingly pretty face, and he’s got the same haunted eyes Bruce has, that Bruce’s maker had.

“It’s not so cut and dry,” the stranger says. “Killers and non-killers. Things are so much more complicated than that. Please, let me show you.”

Bruce knows instantly that he’s got to let this cursed half-life of his play out a little bit longer, if only to learn what this beautiful stranger is all about.


End file.
